Millionaire software mogul John McAfee, who is wanted for questioning over the death of his neighbour, claims he has been in his home in Belize all along.

Mr McAfee told CNBC he has been hiding in his compound for the last week - not on the run as previously believed.

"I am where I am most of the time. I am certainly inside my compound," he said.

Police want to question him as a "person of interest" about the murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull, who was shot last Saturday in the Central American country.

Belize Police Department spokesman Raphael Martinez told FoxNews.com the local police were aware of the latest claims from Mr McAfee and were investigating.

"That has been passed on to the police in San Pedro," Martinez said. "They are checking it out right now."

Police said McAfee has several buildings on his ocean front compound on Ambergris Caye, a stretch of island just off the Belizean shore dotted with resorts.

A Facebook page showing pictures of John McAfee

Mr McAfee earlier told Wired he hid out while police combed the property, burying himself in sand with a cardboard box over his head to breathe.

He denies killing Mr Faull whose body was found by his housekeeper in a pool of blood with a gunshot wound to the head.

A dispute between the neighbours apparently involved several dogs that Mr McAfee kept at his beachside villa and that drew complaints from neighbours.

Asked if he knew anything about the murder, he told CNBC, "I had absolutely nothing to do with it and I did know him but just barely. We'd spoken perhaps 50 words in five years."

The tech guru said his relationship with the government has "never been good" and believes he's being targeted by police for this reason. He said he refuses to hand himself to police for fear of being killed.

Police officers carry the body of Gregory Faull

"I simply refuse to play by the rules. I am a foreigner, a rich foreigner, and I am expected to pay my dues which is to contribute to campaigns and give my dues. I don't like extortion and refuse to do that," he said.

The Belizean prime minister Dean Barrow expressed doubt about the 67-year-old's mental state, saying he was "extremely paranoid, even bonkers".

Describing the last week in hiding, Mr McAfee said, "They've been OK. You know, I don't have a lot of freedom of movement. The food is not the best. I have no television, I would like a television."

The McAfee founder now plans to dodge police until Mr Faull's killer is found.

"The ultimate goal is they will figure out who killed the man, they will have nothing to do with me, they will leave me alone... "

He said he hadn't contacted the US embassy because he didn't want to follow the same track as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange who has been hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

"What would happen? They will offer me some type of sanctuary where I will spend my days living in the embassy like poor Julian Assange was. Or when I leave the embassy I will be nabbed by police."